I’ve got some good news and some great news. If you want the great news first, read the rest of this paragraph right now. If you’d like the good news first, skip to the next paragraph but don’t forget to come back. OK, so the great news is that with the release of the fourth episode of point and click Edgar Allan Poe simulator, The Last Door, all of the previous chapters are now available for free. I’ve only played the first but I intend to experience the whole thing now that the season is complete.

The good news is that the pixelated peril has been successful enough to convince the creators to work on a second season, which should debut in Summer once design processes have been overhauled and funding has been raised. Hurrah.

I never thought I’d write something like this, but The Last Door’s approach to crowdfunding is elegant. Seriously, it is. Good for the game and great for the audience. By releasing episodically, The Game Kitchen are effectively telling a story and shaking the can for tips at the end of each chapter to see if people are willing to pay for more. And the audience is happy to cough up the cash:

As you probably know, the funding campaign of ‘Ancient Shadows’ has been the most successful one so far, we collected the amazing sum of 13305.8 € (at the time of writing this article) which feels like a world record for us.

It’s not $tarCitizen money but it’s a decent sum. The other advantage of the episodic funding is that previous chapters are released for free as soon as a new one is complete, which means the audience grows, as does the potential for extra donations during the next cycle.

The fourth episode finishes the original narrative, which is a creepy, creaky old-fashioned horror-mystery. As much Woman in Black as Lovecraft, the first chapter seems to understand the importance of the slow-build and I hope it hasn’t all become explosions and tentacles by episode four.

The developers have written a well-reasoned post about the work that will happen between now and the launch of season two. If you haven’t already tried the previous chapters, take a look.

I urge anyone who hasn’t played this yet to give at least the first episode a try. It just drips with atmosphere, it’s haunting, genuinely unsettling in places and is accompanied by one of the most beautiful soundtracks I’ve yet heard in a game.

Also, for a point and clicker it isn’t difficult – I mean, even I got through it without resorting to walkthroughs. It will take you anywhere from 30-60 minutes.